Imaging systems based on light waves are becoming more widely used for object detection as semiconductor processes have become faster to support such systems. Some imaging systems are capable of providing dozens of images per second, making such systems useful for object tracking as well. Due to their potentially small form factor and potentially high signal fidelity, some imaging systems are well suited for gesture control in many types of consumer devices (e.g., television, computers, tablets, smartphones, etc.). While the resolution of such imaging systems may vary, applications using these systems are able to take advantage of the speed of their operation.
Mobile devices such as notebook computers or smart phones are not easily adapted to using such imaging systems due to the power requirements of the imaging systems and the limited power storage capability of the mobile devices. The greatest contributors to the high power requirement of light-based imaging systems are the illumination source, which may be applied at a constant power level and/or constant frequency during operation and modulation functions. Further, such systems may be applied with a constant maximum lateral resolution (i.e., number of pixels) for best performance in worst case usage scenarios.
The power demands often exceed the power storage capabilities of mobile devices, diminishing the usefulness of the imaging systems as applied to the mobile devices.